


Stitching Together a Mismatch Quilt

by nellnellcooljay



Series: Origins ft Nurse Jack [2]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Grand Theft Auto Setting, Child Abuse, Drug Use, F/M, Fake AH Crew, Fem Jack, Gen, Nurse Jack, Pre-Fake AH Crew, Theyre all gonna come together and its gonna be great, the lads are kids when they meet them
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-24
Updated: 2017-02-17
Packaged: 2018-09-19 15:23:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9447398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nellnellcooljay/pseuds/nellnellcooljay
Summary: Jack and Geoff have started the budding Fake AH Crew, but they were still a small blip in the world of crime. They slowly piece together their crew from strays and misfits, and become one of the most powerful crews Los Santos has ever seen.





	1. Gavin

After Geoff and Jack teamed up, nothing really happened for a while. Jack quit her job at the ER and started going to the shooting range more and more. Geoff still did all the dealings and told nobody that he now had a partner, much less one that he cared about. They’d pulled off a couple of small thefts with Geoff on the ground and Jack as the getaway driver (she hadn’t lied when she’d said that she was a fantastic driver).

Despite the slow pace, Jack was happy for the first time in her entire life and the boredom was completely gone. She and Geoff had used some of her savings to get a small apartment in a part of town claimed by a very weak gang. Geoff was confident that they’d be able to kill them and take the area when the time came, and she wasn’t going to argue with him because she was happy wherever they went.

After almost 8 months of this life, Jack was walking through some of the more shady parts of town scoping out a good path to take to lose the cops for a future hit they were planning when she heard a tiny whimper. The sound was very small and weak and immediately Jack’s nursing training took over.

“Hello?” she called gently in the direction of the whimper. She slowly began to walk toward it, keeping a sharp eye for the source of the sound or for a possible attack. Eventually, she saw a small form curled up into itself behind a dumpster. When Jack saw the form, she held up her hands and took a tentative step toward it. Upon closer inspection, she saw that it was a boy, no older than 11, with wide fearful eyes and hands clamped tightly over his mouth. Half of his body was completely hidden in the shadows. His face was dirty with streaks down his cheeks where tears had cut through the grime. The next thing Jack noticed was the blood that covered his face and hands.

“Hey,” Jack said gently, she slowly knelt down in front of him keeping her hands visible and her eyes on his. “My name is Jack. Are you alright?” The boy continued to watch her fearfully, not taking his hands off of his mouth. “I’m a nurse,” Jack said keeping her voice calm and quiet so as not to frighten the boy more. “I only want to help you. Will you let me do that? I promise that I won’t hurt you.” The boy slowly lowered his hands from his mouth, but he made no move closer and still sat rigid in fear. Eventually the boy nodded, but still didn’t move to from where he sat curled in the shadows.

“Are you hurt?” Jack asked when she saw that he had relaxed a bit. The boy whimpered and nodded, tears flowing from his eyes again. Jack slowly reached toward the boy making sure that her face remained calm and her body remained open. “Will you come here so that I can take a look?” The boy nodded after a second and unfolded himself from where he sat. When he turned toward Jack, she nearly gasped at what she saw, but had to maintain a calm face for the fearful child. On the side of his body that had been hidden away from Jack, there was a deep gash, probably from a knife, in his arm. There was blood covering his entire arm, his chest, his hands, and his face.

“It hurts a lot,” the boy whispered, uttering his first words since Jack had seen him. He had an English accent, Jack noted absently, and he sounded very small and afraid.  

“It sure looks like it hurts a lot, buddy,” Jack said, looking at it closely. It didn’t look fresh, but it hadn’t gotten infected yet which was a good sign. “I’m going to have to take you back home with me so that I can help you better. Is that alright?” she asked, watching the child closely. He tensed for a second then nodded. Jack stood and gently took the child’s hand leading him back to her and Geoff’s apartment.

* * *

 

Luckily for her, Geoff was out when she got back. This allowed her to patch the kid up without having to explain the presence of a, quite frankly, very intimidating man. Upon closer inspection, she saw that the wound on his arm was, in fact, a stab wound, and it was very deep requiring stitches. The child was also littered in bruises and smaller cuts and scrapes. She managed to calm him down and convinced him to bathe and eat. She even made him some hot chocolate. He hadn’t said anything at all since she had brought him back and it was starting to be a little bit creepy. What kind of kid didn’t talk?

“Hey, buddy,” Jack said quietly, sitting down across from him where he was sitting at the table. “Are you feeling any better?” The only response he gave was a small nod as he stared down at his hot chocolate. Jack sighed internally as she watched him. He seemed so small and afraid. “What’s your name?” she asked finally, figuring it was an easier question that why were you alone in an alley with a stab wound. The boy seemed to think really hard about whether he should respond before he finally did.

“Gavin,” he whispered, almost too quietly to hear. He still hadn’t looked up from the mug of hot chocolate in front of him. Jack’s heart broke because of just how broken he looked.

 _God,_ she thought bitterly, _who could do this to a kid_.

“Gavin,” she said kindly, with a soft smile on her lips. “What a lovely name.” At that, Gavin looked up. He still look very small, but he didn’t look nearly as afraid anymore. “So, Gav,” she said, taking the opportunity she saw, “why were you all alone in that alley?” Just like that, he closed off again. He looked down at his hot chocolate and stayed silent. The silence stretch for long enough that Jack assumed she had overstepped, and he was going to stop talking again. Finally, he spoke again.

“I was hiding,” his said in a tiny voice. “We were playing hide and seek, but I was always the hider and they were always the seekers. They said that I had to be a really good hider. When they found me, they always punished me because I wasn’t a good enough hider. They said that I couldn’t let anybody else find me either because everybody was mean and would hurt me. They said that I had to be a really, really good hider if I wanted to stay safe.” His voice was shaking and Jack could tell that he was crying again. Jack’s heart shattered into a million pieces as she listened to what the kid was saying. She wanted to reach out and hug him, but she was afraid of scaring him and having him run off on her. Instead, she opted for some words of comfort.

“It’s alright,” she said in a gently but firm voice. “We’ll help you be the best hider this world has ever seen. They’ll never find you ever again. We’ll keep you safe here.” Gavin looked up at her again, tears still pooling in his eyes and spilling down his cheeks.

“You promise?” he asked in a quivering voice. At that Jack did stand up and make her way around the table to pull him into a gentle hug. He stiffened slightly at the physical contact before leaning into her touch and clutching her shirt tightly as though if he let go he would end up back alone in that dark alleyway.

“I promise,” she said softly into his hair as she softly rubbed his back. His body felt so tiny and frail in her arms as she held him close to herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes place after the events of my other fic, but you can read it as a stand alone fic, too. I'd recommend reading the other though ;)  
> Tell me what you think and hit me up on my tumblr @acutest-angle.  
> My lovely beta @crymeamelody


	2. Chapter 2

Gavin had fallen asleep in the guest bedroom by the time Geoff got home around 2 am, which Jack was immensely grateful for because Geoff looked like he’d gotten the shit beat out of him and was carrying a gun. Jack rushed over to him concern etched onto her face.

“Geoff,” she said, gently prodding at his injuries, “what the hell did you do to yourself?” He winced slightly as she touched one of the worst wounds.

“The deal went south,” he said as way of explanation. He looked exhausted, but she was definitely not going to let him get out of it that easily.

“Yeah I see that,” she said testily. “You gonna tell me how or am I gonna have to guess?” Despite her annoyed tone, she lightly took his hand and led him back to their bedroom. Geoff let himself be guided and eventually collapsed down on the bed, dropping the weapon on the ground bedside the bed. Jack began attending to his wounds, making sure that none of them were too serious and making sure none of them got infected. When she finally finished, she placed a small kiss on his cheek.

“What happened with the deal?” she asked sweetly as she sat on his lap facing him. The only response she got was a slight hum as he wrapped his arms around her. At the lack of response, Jack pressed her thumb into one of Geoff’s wounds just enough to make him wince.

“Tell me what happened,” she demanded, pressing a little bit harder. He grimaced before captured her hand in his and pulled her down to lay next to him.

“The details aren’t really important. They didn’t like the terms that we set up. What’s important is that we won’t be doing business with the Arnez crew anymore,” he said tiredly. “Nobody will,” he added as an afterthought. They lay together in pleasant silence for a little while longer before Geoff leaned over and gave her a light kiss.

“How was the walk? Did you find a good route?” he asked curiously, an edge of excitement in his voice. They’d been planning this hit for a while, and it was going to be their first major heist together. It was going to be their first major heist for the small, two-man Fake AH Crew.

Jack sat up now and sat cross on the bed facing Geoff. He propped himself up on his elbows to look at her, suspicion creasing his brow.

“The walk was good,” she said quickly. “I found a very viable route to take. I also picked something up on my way home,” she rushed through the last bit, looking down at her fingernails in great interest.

“Jack,” Geoff said suspiciously, “what did you pick up on your way home?” Jack continued to not look up at him as she mumbled her response still picking at her fingernails. Geoff reached up and lifted her chin so that she was forced to make eye contact with him. “What did you bring home?” he repeated.

“A kid,” Jack repeated tentatively. Geoff dropped his hand and looked at her in shock.

“What the actual flying fuck, Jack,” Geoff shouted. Jack quickly shushed him.

“He’s asleep in the guest room. Please be quiet or you’ll wake him up,” she begged. “He’s just a kid and he was hurt; I wasn’t about to leave him on the street. There are some horrible people who are after him. I promised him that we’d protect him.” Jack watched Geoff closely, but his face remained carefully neutral.

“We can’t be adopting children off of the street. There are tons of orphans and other kids on the street. If we take in all of the kids that we find that need a place to stay, we’ll end up on the street ourselves,” Geoff said carefully, but lowered his voice.

“Geoffrey,” Jack snapped at him, “I am not throwing a child back onto the street. You should have seen him. He was absolutely petrified when I found him and he’s been stabbed.” Jack crossed her arms over her chest leveling Geoff with a cold stare. At this Geoff sighed and scrubbed his hands over his face.

“Can we talk about this in the morning?” he asked, sounding exhausted.

“I’m not sure what there is left to talk about,” Jack said icily. “We are not throwing the kid back on the street.” Geoff looked up at her then.

“Okay,” he said finally. “Okay. Fine. We aren’t going throw the kid back on the street.”

“Thank you,” Jack said, she smiled and uncrossed her arms. “Now you need to get some sleep, you look like shit.” Geoff scoffed at her and then kissed her lightly before laying down to go to sleep. Jack got up and turned the light off before padding back and laying down beside him going to sleep.

* * *

 

When Jack woke up, the sun was shining brightly outside, and Geoff was still lightly snoring beside her. Jack got up and threw on some clothes then went to the guest room to check on Gavin. The door was still closed, so Jack knocked lightly before slowly opening the door. He was awake and sitting on his bed with his back pressed against the wall and legs drawn to his chest watching the door tensely. When he saw that it was Jack, he relaxed considerably.

“Good morning, Gavin,” she said smiling brightly. She stepped further into the room consciously making herself look as unimposing as possible.

“Good morning,” he responded quietly, not moving from his curled position. He still looked so scared and Jack hated it.

“Are you hungry, buddy?” she asked softly. He nodded quickly, which contrasted the slow, tentative uncurling of his tiny body. “How about I make you pancakes,” Jack said kindly. Gavin nodded again and followed as Jack headed to the kitchen. He sat quietly at the table in the kitchen as she began preparing the pancakes. It was silent for a while before Jack broke the silence.

“I forgot to tell you last night,” she began, flipping a pancake in the pan, “I live with somebody else.” She glanced over at Gavin, but he didn’t seem shocked in the slightest.

“You kept saying ‘we’,” he said a bit timidly. At that Jack huffed a little laugh.

“I guess I did didn’t I. You’re very observant, aren’t you?” she asked fondly. Gavin shrugged lightly at that, a ghost of a smile on his face. “Well,” Jack continued on, “his name is Geoff and he’s kind of a big guy. But I promise that he’s the sweetest guy you’ll meet.” She was smiling and she turned back to making the pancakes. They lapse back into silence until Jack had finished making the pancakes. She put some onto a couple of plates and brought one to Gavin. As soon as she set the plate down in front of Gavin, Geoff emerged bleary eyed from the bedroom.

“I smell pancakes,” he declared as he stepped into the kitchen making his way to the coffee maker. Beside her, Gavin tensed immediately, his sharp eyes tracking Geoff’s every movement. Jack placed a light hand on his shoulder to calm him down, and Gavin looked up at her with wide eyes.

“There’s probably a good reason for that,” she said lightly and gestured to the pile of pancakes beside the stove. Geoff turned around with a mug of coffee in his hands and frozen when he saw the boy beside Jack.

“Geoff, this is Gavin. Gavin, this is Geoff,” she said quickly to each of them. She felt Gavin tense more under her hand under Geoff’s critical gaze. “Geoff, why don’t you get some pancakes and join us?” she asked, making it sound more like a command than a request. She sat down at the table next to Gavin, but kept a hand on his back to try to calm him down in any way, it didn’t seem to be working. Geoff came over with a plate of pancakes and sat down in front of Gavin.

“So Gavin,” Geoff said after a long stretch of silence, “how old are you, bud?” Gavin looked like he was about to jump out of his skin and flinched when he was addressed. Jack rubbed small circles on his back watching him and Geoff carefully. Geoff was watching Gavin closely and Gavin was looking down at his pancakes.

“I’m 10,” he whispered, not looking up. He had leaned marginally closer to Jack, seeking any sort of comfort. Geoff sent Jack a look that could loosely be translated as ‘what the fuck have you gotten us into?’ to which Jack only responded with a shrug. Stifling silence surrounded them for a long moment.

“Why don’t we eat,” Jack said finally, breaking the silence. She picked up her fork slowly and began to eat her pancakes. Gavin followed after, cautiously looking over at Geoff before proceeding to tentatively eat his pancakes. Geoff shot Jack one last uncertain look before he too started eating. This was going to be a fun day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've written so much in the past like 72 hours. Don't expect such punctual update from me because like college and adhd and the inability to come up with creative ideas. I'll try my very very hardest to not put like more than a couple of weeks between each update though I promise.   
> Anywho, tell me what you think and hit me up on my tumblr @acutest-angle


	3. Chapter 3

It took several weeks, but eventually Gavin got used to both Geoff and Jack. Geoff liked the boy a lot and became very protective over him, barely letting him out of his sight when they left the apartment. After Gavin had been living with them for a couple of months, though, the topic of school came up after they had put him to bed.

“He’s gotta go to school,” Jack said one night out of the blue as she and Geoff sat together on the couch watching the news. Geoff looked over at her in confusion. “Gavin,” she clarified. “He’s only 10. He’s gotta go to school and live a somewhat normal life.”

“He’s not gonna want to go to school,” Geoff said dismissively, pulling her closer to him. Jack rolled her eyes and scooted away to look at him.

“He has to, Geoff,” she said defiantly. “He’s so curious about everything. All those never ending questions of his could finally get some answers if he goes to school. Plus,” she continued on as Geoff finally looked over at her, “have you seen the way that he looks at computers? He could learn something about them at school.” Geoff sighed and muted the TV.

“He’s petrified to even leave the apartment without one of us,” he pointed out. “He’s not gonna want to go to school,” he repeated, emphasizing his point.

“He’ll always be scared to leave unless we give him a little bit of a push,” Jack countered. Geoff sighed again and scrubbed his hands over his face. This caused Jack to smile smugly knowing she’d won this one.

“Fine,” he said, after a moment of silence. “We’ll look into a school where he’ll be safe and protected tomorrow.” Jack smiled sweetly at him after that, placing a light kiss on his cheek before settling back into his side.

Needless to say, it was an ordeal to get Gavin to go to school. First, they had to find a school where they could hire somebody to watch over him. Then, they had to forge some paperwork so that they could actually enroll him into the school. And lastly, they had to convince Gavin that it was a good idea and he’d be safe. There were a lot of tears and begging involved in the last step. The entire process took just under a month, and by the end of it both Geoff and Jack were more than happy to send Gavin to school and have a brief moment of calm in their otherwise hectic apartment.  

* * *

 

The day they sent Gavin to school was also the day that they had planned a small hit on a jewelry store in a rival gang’s territory. It was another very small gang that was growing rather quickly, and neither Geoff nor Jack found it very comforting. The hit was mostly just to show the other gang that they shouldn’t get too comfortable because, while the Fake AH Crew was still very small, they were the next up and coming crew and they were not going to be surpassed.

The hit started easily enough. Geoff went into the jewelry shop gushing about his girlfriend and asking the owner about different engagement rings. Jack waited just down the street in their getaway car, nobody knew her face or that she was associated with Geoff and they wanted to keep it that way.

When the last of the other customers had left the store, Geoff swiftly locked the door and pulled out his gun pointing it at the owner.

“Put all the money and the nice shit in the bag,” Geoff said lazily, tossing a small bag toward the owner who was visibly shaking at the sight of the gun. When he made no move to grab the bag, Geoff clicked off the safety of the gun and leveled it between the owner’s eyes.

“Don’t make me repeat myself,” Geoff said coldly. The owner hastily grabbed the bag throwing all of the cash into it and some of the nicer jewelry. When Geoff was satisfied with the haul, he pulled out a can of green spray paint and sprayed the Fake’s logo big on the window. Grabbing the bag, he went to the door and unlocked it. He tucked his gun away and opened the door up slightly.

“I think she’ll love the ring,” Geoff said cheerily, throwing a wink over his shoulder as he left the store and made his way down the street to Jack’s waiting vehicle. When he got into the car, he threw the bag into the back seat and pressed a kiss onto Jack’s lips. Behind them, the sounds of police sirens echoed down the road, and Jack reveled in the Geoff’s touch and the excitement of the police closing in on them. Eventually, the sirens got close enough that Jack pulled away from Geoff and peeled away from the curb, driving recklessly back to their apartment.  

All and all the hit went smoothly with no civilian casualties and no messy police involvement. When they got back to the apartment, they were both buzzing with the excitement of a successful hit. Their total haul from the hit wasn’t very much, only a couple of grand in cash and jewels, but they knew that their message had been delivered, and hopefully the other gang would understand and stop trying to become the next big thing.

By the time that they had finally settled and hidden the take to sell on a later date, it was still early afternoon, and they had a couple more hours before they had to go pick Gavin up from school. Geoff poured himself and Jack a drink before they both settled together on the couch to watch the news for any coverage of their little hit. They sat like this for a long while, drinking in each other’s touch.

* * *

 

Soon enough, it was time for them to leave to go pick Gavin up from school. Geoff hauled himself to his feet, and Jack watched him in amusement while he frantically looked for the keys mumbling something about how they cannot be late because Gavin will think that they’ve abandoned him at the hell hole that is school. He found them soon enough; Jack got up to join him at the door for the short drive.

Gavin was bouncing happily on the balls of his feet chatting happily with his teacher when the pulled up. When he saw them, he proceeded to hop into the backseat practically vibrating with excitement.

“Hey, bud,” Geoff greeted, pulling quickly out of the hectic parking lot. “How was your first day?”

“It was great,” Gavin exclaimed happily. “I met all sorts of new people!” He was grinning broadly seeming very proud of himself for meeting new people.

“That’s great!” Jack said, looking back at him with a smile. “Tell us about them.” Gavin launched into tales about all of his classmates and his teacher and what’d they’d done that day.

“And I met my new best friend,” Gavin stated happily. “His name is Jeremy, and he’s real short.” He giggled a little bit at the last part. “He’s real nice, though. He sits by me and was the only person who talked to me for almost all day!”

“It’s great that you’re making such great friends, Gavvy,” Geoff said fondly. Listening to the boy happily talk about his reassured him that they had done the right thing in sending him to school.

“Yeah!” Gavin agreed happily. “But Jeremy seemed real sad and scared to go home,” he added solemnly, looking between Jack and Geoff. “He really didn’t want to.” He seemed kind of thoughtful and sad as he said that. Jack and Geoff exchanged a look as Geoff pulled into the parking lot next to their building.

“Why don’t you invite him over tomorrow,” Jack suggested kindly, looking back at Gavin.

“Really?” he asked happily, bouncing up and down in his seat.

“Of course. You guys can play some video games or some shit,” Geoff said absently, throwing Jack another concerned look. It may just be a child’s overactive imagination, but they trusted Gavin’s judgement, even if he was only a kid, and they figured they should look into it. For now though, they had to entertain a hyperactive 10 year old.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no self control. Guys I wrote another chapter. Guys I have no self control.  
> I'm going to try to write a little bit everyday even if I don't post. So I mean, I'll be posting every few days at least.  
> Anyway, next chapter JEREMY! Who's pumped.  
> Tell me what you think and hit me up on my tumblr @acutest-angle


	4. Jeremy

The next day, when Geoff and Jack picked Gavin up from school, he was standing next to a much shorter boy who nervously shifted from one foot to the other. Upon seeing Jack and Geoff pull up, Gavin bounded over to the car with the other boy close behind.

“Hi Geoff! Hi Jack!” Gavin said happily, sliding across the backseat to make room for the other boy. “This is Jeremy!” At the mention of his name, Jeremy looked up sheepishly and gave a tiny wave. He didn’t seem very happy to be in a car with strangers, but Gavin quickly launched into an excited conversation with him, distracting him from his unease. Jack turned around in her seat to look at Jeremy as Geoff pulled away from the school.

He was very small, but not skinny like Gavin. He sat with his shoulders slumped forward, closing off his body, but when he looked at Gavin, his face seemed to be open and happy. When he wasn’t looking at Gavin, he was looking at his hands, seeming almost afraid to look forward at the adults in the car. He didn’t seem to be actively participating in the conversation with Gavin, just listening intently and nodding along with some of the things that Gavin said. When Gavin finally took a breath between words, Jack took that as her opportunity to try to talk to Jeremy.

“So, Jeremy,” she started, “how old are you?” The boy tensed immediately, head snapping in the direction of Jack’s voice. He seemed to debate whether or not to answer. When Jack remained quiet watching him expectantly and Gavin didn’t answer for him, he made his decision.

“I’m nine,” he finally said, a determined sound in his voice as though he were trying to make it not quiver. Jack smiled at him kindly; he seemed caught off guard by her kindness, and he looked as though he didn’t know whether to trust it or not.

“What do you like to do for fun?” Jack asked curiously, watching him closely. Jeremy looked down at his lap and gave a half-hearted shrug in response. Geoff glanced over at Jack in confusion, but she chose to ignore him as she continued to talk to Jeremy.

“Awe come on,” Jack pressed, maintaining her kind, nurse-like tone. “Everybody has something that they like to do for fun!” Jeremy shrugged again. He looked up at her warily after another moment of silence and seemed startled that she was still watching him kindly. Letting his eyes drop back to his hands, he shrugged again.

“My mom and dad don’t really like when I make noise. I am to quietly do my chores and homework. I read when I’m done with my chores and homework. My dad says that kids are meant to be seen, not heard,” he said softly. Jack shared a look with Geoff as Gavin pulled Jeremy back into another overly-enthusiastic conversation. Both Jack and Geoff knew that wasn’t the whole story. While it isn’t good to tell a kid they aren’t allowed to be loud or play, it doesn’t make them afraid to go home. There was more to this story and Jack was determined to find out the rest.

* * *

 

“Race you to the door,” Gavin said energetically, pulling a giggling Jeremy out of the car after him.

“You’re on,” Jeremy said. They both took off into the apartment building.

Jack and Geoff followed more slowly behind, listening to the pounding feet and laughter as the boys sprinted up the three flights of stairs. By the time that they got to the apartment door, both Gavin and were splayed on the ground in front of it breathing heavily and giggling.

“Jeremy is really fast!” Gavin exclaimed as Geoff stepped over them to unlock the door. “He beat me and I am the fastest person that I know!” Jeremy blushed at that, looking everywhere but at Jack or Geoff.

“I guess you’re not the fastest person you know anymore,” Jack said laughing. Gavin laughed and hopped to his feet pulling Jeremy up after him. He ran into the apartment after Geoff got the door open, a tentative and quiet Jeremy following closely behind him. Jack followed Geoff inside, closing the door behind her. She made her way into the apartment and saw that Gavin had lead Jeremy into the living room where he was currently starting up a game of Minecraft on the xbox.

“Are either of you hungry?” Jack asked, walking through the room. Jeremy immediately shook his head, the action seemed trained rather than honest. Jack stopped walking and watched him carefully, but he hadn’t taken his eyes off of the screen or made a single noise since she’d entered the room.

“Can we have cookies?” Gavin asked, snapping her attention to him instead. She smiled at him and ruffled his hair as she continued to walk to the kitchen. He squawked, quickly smoothing down his hair which caused Jeremy to laugh softly.

“I’ll bring you some cookies,” she said fondly as she walked into the small, adjoined kitchen. Geoff was leaning against a counter in the kitchen on his phone, but he looked up when she walked in.

“Can I have cookies too?” he asked innocently, eyes wide. Jack rolled her eyes at him, patting his cheek as she walked by.

“Do you think that you really need any cookies?” she retorted, earning herself an offended gasp and a poke to the side. Giggling, she swatted at Geoff’s hand. He captured her hand and pulled her close to him grinning. She stuck her tongue out at him before deftly slipping out of his grasp. Geoff laughed pulling his phone back out as she pulled out a plate to put some cookies on.

* * *

 

When Jack brought the cookies back into the living room, Gavin immediately paused the game and descended upon. Jack watched as Jeremy’s eyes flickered to them briefly before going back to focus on the paused game screen. Concern creased Jack’s brow as she watched Jeremy sit tensely on the couch, eyes carefully focused forward.

“Jeremy,” she finally said, “you’re welcome to have a cookie.” He looked up at her as though he couldn’t understand what she was saying to him.

“I haven’t done anything to earn them, though,” he said in confusion.

“You don’t have to earn your food here,” Jack said kindly. “You’re our guest.” Jeremy still looked uncertain, but he tentatively reached forward and grabbed a cookie. When Jack didn’t move to stop him, he quickly stuffed it into his mouth as though it might disappear if he didn’t eat it all right away. Satisfied that neither boy was hungry anymore, she retreated back to the kitchen.  

“Geoff,” she said urgently when she saw that he hadn’t moved from where he was standing before. “I need to talk to you.” Geoff looked up at her, slipping his phone into his pocket.

“What’s up?” he asked, tilting his head slightly to the side.

“There’s something not right about Jeremy’s home life.”

“We knew that already. That’s why we had Gav invite him over. Remember?”

“I remember,” she snapped, “but I mean something real not right. You heard him when he said he’s not allowed to make noise at home. And, when I took in the cookies, he said he didn’t earn the food I was giving him, but also looked scared that I was going to take it away from him. I don’t think is parents are feeding him.” Geoff’s brow furrowed at that, and he just watched her for a moment.

“That might explain why he’s so short,” Geoff said slowly. “But it’s not exactly definitive proof of what’s happening at his house.” Jack deflated slightly at that. She knew that what she saw could merely have meant that the boy wasn’t allowed to have cookies without doing his chores at home, but it also could mean something more. She scrubbed a hand over her face nodding then looked back at Geoff.

“I know,” she said finally. “I know. I’m just worried about him. Gavin had no reason to lie to us yesterday. If the boy is afraid to go home, then something must be happening at home.” Geoff nodded thoughtfully at that, looking over her shoulder into the living room at the boys. The stood in silence for a long while, the only sounds coming from the boys’ conversation and occasional shouts from Gavin.

“We’ll keep an eye on him,” Geoff said, breaking the silence. “He can come home with Gav after school whenever he can, and we’ll keep an eye on him. If – when,” he corrected, “he get definitive proof of what his parents are doing to him,” he took a breath and a deadly expression crossed his face, “I’ll fucking kill them. You don’t hurt a kid.” Jack nodded slowly at him. She walked over and stood beside him, putting a gentle arm around his waist.

“You don’t hurt a kid,” she echoed, watching the boys happily play Minecraft together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we have lovely Jeremy being added. This chapter took me a really long time to write because I honestly had no idea what I was going to do with it tbh.  
> Anyway, tell me what you think and hit me up on my tumblr @acutest-angle.


	5. Chapter 5

Jeremy came over almost every day after school following first day. Eventually he got his own bed in Gavin’s room, and he started staying over for multiple days in a row. Geoff and Jack noticed the nightmares that jerked the boy awake many nights, but he insisted that he was fine and it was just nerves of being in a new bed. Neither Jack nor Geoff believed this. The thing that really bothered them, though, about this is that his parents never called or checked in on him. They were still looking into them, searching desperately for any tangible evidence to kill them and to take Jeremy in as their own.

“Why do we even need evidence,” Geoff grumbled late one night as they were each scouring their various sources. Jack looked up at him, raising an eyebrow in question.

“What if they aren’t actually terrible?” She was grasping at straws and she knew it. She didn’t really like the idea of just killing them without seeing any proof, but she knew in her heart that they weren’t good people.

“We both know that they are assholes, though,” Geoff said, sounding tired. They’d been at this since the first day, which was at least a month ago at this point.

Both of the boys were soundly asleep one room over in Gavin’s room. Jack looks over in the general direction of their room, biting her lip in thought. She didn’t really like the idea of killing a kid’s parents with so little evidence against them. She knew that they weren’t good people, but she also knew that they were still his parents, and she couldn’t bring herself to be okay with it. Geoff, seeming to sense her hesitation, went back to his searching with a sigh.

Jack continued to look at the wall that divided them from the boys. Their boys. She suddenly felt a rush of protectiveness and determination go through her, and she clenched her fists in her lap. Nobody was going to hurt her boy and get away with it. To hell with evidence, they were not going to hurt Jeremy any more after tonight. She slammed her laptop shut, causing Geoff to jump slightly, and look up at her.

“We have to kill them,” she said in determination, still staring at the wall separating them from their boys. Finally, she looked at him, the fiery determination alight in her eyes. “Nobody is going to hurt our boys.” Geoff looked at her for a moment before a small grin stretched across his lips.

“Let’s go then,” he said, shutting his laptop. He stood and walked over to the locked safe where they kept their guns. Jack quickly followed him grabbing a simple handgun as Geoff grabbing a shotgun. Geoff looked over at her, a murderous look in his eyes that sent a rush of excitement through Jack. She gave him a curt nod and they both headed out of the apartment. Before they left, Jack wrote a quick note saying that they went out to run some errands in the event that either of the boys woke up and started looking for them.

* * *

 

They soon arrived at Jeremy’s house. It was a neat, 2-story house in a neat, family-friendly, suburban neighborhood. Being in the neighborhood made Jack’s skin crawl and a ghost of the boredom float through her mind.

“Let’s get this over with,” she said anxiously, fiddling with the gun in her hand and staring at the darkened home. Geoff looked over at her sympathetically and reached over to gently squeeze her hand.

“Calm down,” he said firmly, causing Jack to look over at him. His eyes were filled with a sympathy that made Jack’s stomach churn. Was she really that pathetic? “We can’t have you freaking out with a gun in your hand and the intention of killing two people.” He had a point, but that didn’t stop the unease that crept through her veins as she sat in in front of the house. She looked back at the house for a long moment before finally looking back at Geoff with a steady, determined gaze.

“Let’s get this over with,” she repeated firmly, pushing the door open and stepping out into the still, night air. Geoff followed suit and they were both sneaking through the quite night toward the house.

They both knew that the bedrooms were on the second floor and that both of Jeremy’s parents would be asleep in bed right now, considering the time was now approaching 2 am. There was no way to get to the second floor from outside of the house, so they had to get into the house before they could get to the second floor.

Jack crouched in front of the front door and pulled out her lock pick set, skillfully unlocking the front door. She’s been practicing, but her hands were skilled enough from her days as a nurse that she at a natural aptitude for this particular skill.

“35 seconds,” Geoff whispered lightly as she pushed the door open. “You’re getting slow.” Jack grinned and punched him in the arm.

“I’d like to see you do better,” she whispered back, stepping into the dark and silent house. It was eerie being in such a quiet house, their apartment was never this quiet.

Inside the house was just as neat as outside the house. The small pile of shoes by the door seemed orderly (a notable lack of any children’s shoes), the stack of junk mail and magazines on the table in the foyer seemed accent the room rather than look like trash, the pristine, white carpet that covered the floors seemed too sterile for a home. The unease grew in Jack as she looked around the home. It was so perfect, so domestic, so _boring_.

Geoff nodded his head in the direction of the stairs before taking the lead. Jack followed quickly, watching in bitter glee as she tracked mud across the perfect, white carpet. They quietly made their way up the stairs, silently thanking whoever for looking out for them for making the steps quiet.  

When they reached the second floor, Geoff made a bee-line for the door that they knew that Jeremy’s parents would be sleeping behind. He stopped in front of it and looked back at Jack in an unspoken question. She looked at him in steely determination, flicking the safety off of her gun, and nodded at him. He nodded back before quietly pushing the door open to reveal a dark room with two sleeping figures inside.

The bedroom was as pristine as the rest of the house. White carpets, white curtains, white bedding, white walls, and a vase of fake, white daisies by the window. Sterile, pristine, fake. Jack took a deep breath and resisted the urge to shoot the flowers by the window. Geoff looked over at her concerned, seeming to sense her unease. She just shook her head at him and quietly crept over to the bed.

She made eye contact with Geoff, an unspoken conversation floating in the air between them as they moved in sync, both placing a firm hand over Jeremy’s parent’s mouths. Jeremy’s mom, whose side Jack had taken, shot awake almost instantly, fear covering her face as she looked up at Jack.

“I’m sorry for waking you, ma’am,” Jack said sweetly, she smiled down at the woman below her. She looked just as fake as her home. Perfectly bleached hair, perfect skin, and a perfect nose. It furthered in unease growing in Jack.

“We have a couple of questions to ask you and your wife,” Geoff said, picking up where Jack left off. Jack never took her eyes off of Jeremy’s mother, but she felt the fear radiating off of his father just on the other side of the bed. The woman’s eyes widened considerably as Jack brought her gun up and pressed it to her temple.

“If you don’t answer our questions,” Jack said, an evil grin pulling on her lips, “I guess we are going to have to kill you.”

“Maybe we’ll just kill you anyway,” Geoff mused, the sound of his shotgun cocking filled the room. The woman started to cry then, silent tears falling down her cheeks. Jack had to commend her though, she had quite a bit of resolve to hold out for so long.

“Do you even care about Jeremy, your son? You know, the boy that hasn’t been home in weeks and is terrified to enter your house?” Jack asked lightly, cocking her head to one side. “Now I’m going to move my and so you can answer me, but if you scream my partner over there will kill your husband so you can watch and then I’ll kill you. Understand?” The woman nodded quickly, tears flowing more freely down her cheeks. Jack moved her hand from the woman’s mouth, but kept the gun pressed firmly to her temple.

“We love Jeremy,” she sobbed when she was finally able to speak. At that, Jack shared an exasperated look with Geoff before slapping the woman across the face.

“Don’t fucking lie to my face,” Jack growled, leveling the woman with a chilling stare. “You haven’t even bothered looking for him when he hasn’t come home. You are abusive and neglectful assholes who don’t deserve to have as sweet a kid as Jeremy.”

“Do you want money? We have money! Please just don’t kill us!” the woman pleaded, staring at Jack desperately. Even now, in the face death, she was more worried about herself than her son.

“You’re pathetic,” Jack said, shaking her head. “I would almost be sorry for you if you weren’t such a despicable person.” At that, the woman laughed hysterically. The laugh startled Jack a bit, none of her other hits had ever laughed when they had a gun pressed to their heads. Jack composed herself quickly, pressing the muzzle harder into the woman’s temple.

“Me?! A despicable person?! At least I’m not a murder!! And as for that ungrateful little brat Jeremy? He’s completely useless and can’t even follow excessively simple directions without fucking it up, and the little shit is always talking or making some sort of fucking noise,” the woman shouted hysterically. Jack sent her hottest glare at the woman causing her laugh to catch in her throat.

“He’s only nine. He’s allowed to be a kid. But, you know what, I don’t know why I’m arguing with you about this. We are his new guardians now that his parents were tragically murdered in a botched robbery one night and assigned Jeremy’s guardianship to us,” she said coldly, staring the woman down. All of the color drained from her face until she just about matched her hair.

“It was a real shame,” Geoff continued on where Jack had left off. “His parents seemed like such respectable people. Such a nice home in such a nice neighborhood with such good careers. A real shame.” Jack looked over at Geoff and he nodded at her. A loud shot rang through the room and the woman’s blood soaked into the pillow below her head. Geoff had hauled the man out of bed and was leading him toward the door, gun pressed against his back. Jack followed swiftly and began to ransack the home. It’s not like anything was really worth stealing, it was all so plastic and fake, but if the botched robbery was to be believed then things had to be, well, stolen. When Jack had finished robbing and messing up the home, she walked into the living room to find Geoff standing there with a still very much alive man.

“Are you not going to kill him,” Jack snapped. The unease that the neighborhood and the home caused her was making her irritable. Geoff only rolled his eyes at her.

“Most new robbers don’t carry shotguns around with them,” he pointed out. Jack nodded and shot the man sloppily in the chest three times. No petty robber would make a clean headshot when startled by somebody discovering them.

They slipped quietly out of the house after wiping away their prints and left the door slightly ajar for the police. When they back in the car, Jack drove away quickly, not turning on the lights until they were a ways away from the house.

She gripped steering wheel so tightly that her knuckles were white, and she clenched her jaw and stared ahead at the road. Geoff placed a light, comforting hand on her shoulder.

“Nobody will hurt our boys again,” he stated, gently gripping her shoulder. “Not if we can help it.” At that she finally relaxed. She reached her hand up and captured Geoff’s hand in her own and squeezed it. Her boys were safe for now and that’s all she cared about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lmao remember when I said I'd update every couple of day?? Whoops.  
> Here's another fantastic chapter for you to feast your eyes upon. I'm not sure when I'll write the next one (probably when I'm avoiding all of my responsibilities again looollll)  
> Anyway, as always tell me what you think and hit me up on tumblr @acutest-angle


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